If your homepage attracts a potential client, the next place they are going to visit is your About page. The homepage is the first impression – it is to make your future client feel infatuated with you and what you offer. But the About page is where the real enchantment starts. The About page is where the trust starts. And the trust is what you need to convert an interested page viewer into your client.

7 Golden Rules of the Personal Trainer’s About Page

1. Write about yourself

Surprisingly enough, this No. 1 general rule is not always practiced by personal trainers. I’ve seen numerous pages where on the about page I could read about what personal training is generally, or why one should hire a personal trainer – not the personal trainer whose website this was, just a personal trainer. And that’s not what your about page should contain.

Sometimes I didn’t even know who the personal trainer was. How can I trust someone if I don’t even know who they are? So, the first thing your about page must have is your name! Preferably your full name, but if you’re afraid about your privacy in the web, give your viewer your first name, at least.

And then, don’t write about your business as an abstract. Introduce yourself, introduce your fellow trainers.

A great example of personal approach is BURN 60. They could definitely speak about themselves “a company”. Instead, they show pictures of each and everyone of their trainers with their individual email addresses (that’s a nice touch, too) and a link to a short and concise bios. You know exactly who you’re dealing with.

2. Attach your picture(s)

Yes, you’ve got your picture on your homepage already. But here you can add one or two more. You’re writing about yourself – make your viewer imagine you telling them all those things in a conversation. If your company has more than one trainer, show the pictures of each and every one of them, like in the example above.

And what kind of photo should you show to your future clients? Go for pictures in which they could place themselves, that is: you with your clients. It may be you working with your clients and/or you just smiling with your clients. The important thing is the pictures look real and show the real you.

3. Describe yourself as a trainer

Describe your specialties, skills and certifications in a way everyone will understand. Your viewers don’t have to know all the abbreviations used in fitness industry. Make sure they know what they are reading about. You can also describe your training philosophy in one or two sentences – for instance, a rule you always follow as a trainer.

Try to show your unique qualities – make the client remember you for something. Every personal trainer can write that they “treat each client individually” or that they “will adjust their client’s program to their exact needs and fitness goals”. That’s what a personal trainer does, after all.

Don’t give your future client a definition of personal trainer. Give them an image of you and your work with them. You can write about the individual approach – just don’t make it the only thing in the description of yourself as a trainer.

Listing your qualifications and courses is fine, just make sure the client understands what they are reading about. You can also incorporate your qualifications within the text of your bio, like Shona did at her page Go Body.

4. Describe yourself as a person

The crucial thing is your future client trusts you not only as a fitness professional, but also, and above all, as a person. That’s why you should let the client get to know you better. Write just a few words about who you are, what are your hobby and interests, what are your personal goals.

Additionally, you can put on your about page the links to your Facebook and/or Twitter profile – if you have one. This way your future client will be able to ‘check you out’ if they want to. It’s a simple way of providing additional social proof for who you really are.

A nice example of a balanced trainer-and-person description you can find on the About page of Fit-Your-Life. If you don’t want to reveal your personal details, write about your sports interests and fitness background.

5. Use a relaxed and informal voice

We already know what to write on your about page, now a few words about how to do it best. Rule number one: when writing your about, try to use a friendly tone. Try to make it sound more like talking to a friend than writing to a stranger. Reducing the distance between you and your future client is another way to build trust.

If you want to see what I’m talking about, see how Tessie Tracy wrote about herself. Tip: Don’t be too determined to sound cool, just try to sound like yourself.

6. Don’t make it too long

That’s a rule easy to verify: when you visit a website, do you like to come across an endless column of text? Do you like to scroll and scroll down? Now, you’ve got your proof. Like it or not, most of us displays the tl;dr (too long; didn’t read) syndrome if we have to scroll the page more than once. That’s why you should keep it concise, short and simple.

And make sure to put all the most important info at the top – some of your viewers may stop reading after a while even before they scroll. Tip: Use headlines and lists if you can, so it’s easier to scan the text and find exactly the pieces of info one is interested in.

7. Don’t ever forget about your reader

That’s a tricky one – but actually crucial if you want your viewer to ‘get enchanted’. You’ve got to be really careful writing about yourself – make sure your reader will be able to find a place for themselves in your story. As a skilled writer, you have to turn out as a good listener at the same time.

Create the context which your potential client may easily put themselves into. The about page is about you, but in fact it should be also about your viewer – as people love reading about themselves. Three more hints you may find helpful here:

That would be it for Vol. 2. Hope this helps! Check if your About page adheres to these 7 rules. More about How to Get More New Clients Using the Personal Trainer’s Website in the upcoming articles. See another volume of this series:

The sports soul and the alleged specialist in words of 52Challenges.com. The main 52C Blog writer. A diligent student at the English Department of the University of Wroclaw, majoring in applied linguistics. An ex-acrobat and aerobic gymnast with the 13-year long experience in „training for winning”. A multiple medallist of Poland nationals in acrobatic gymnastics, and academic nationals in aerobic gymnastics. A fan of gymnastics of every existing type. Personally, finds making everyday choices in a healthy lifestyle even more demanding a challenge than making everyday sacrifices in the athlete’s lifestyle.

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